James had been undecided, even as he formulated different plans to approach the Captain. The man thought James was someone else, was James Buchanan Barnes, his ‘Bucky’, and James wasn’t.
Adult, post-WS, angst, slow burn. I’m starting to develop a taste for fic where the Winter Soldier never returns to being Bucky Barnes, as well as fic where Steve and Bucky were never lovers but Steve and James turn out to be.
This story is both, as well as an incredibly satisfying (if necessarily angst-laden and at times heartbreaking) look at the long, slow road of recovery from trauma as horrific as James’. And of course Steve himself is far from undamaged himself and has to deal with everything he lost. Plus there are the other people in their lives and the different kinds of relationships that develop in very believable ways.
But through it all, the connection between them is constant, a thing of beauty, and when they’re finally ready to fall in love, it’s well worth the wait..